


" a voice pierces through / thawing the darkness "

by sighduck



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Developing Relationship, Drabble, Family, Gen, Growing Pains, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 17:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10223207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sighduck/pseuds/sighduck
Summary: love means something different to finn.





	

 

love means something different to finn. poe doesn't know how to ask. finn doesn't mention his shitty childhood if he can help it, and the closest he's gotten to telling poe the truth is: 'when you're surrounded by something all the time...it's hard not to rely on it.'

so that's what poe does these days - he's around all the time, he's reliable. he waits three whole minutes to follow finn after he slips away from the bonfire. they hide in the trees, the laughter and warmth of their friends a pebble thrown-away, poe keeping up a steady stream of bullshit while finn tries not to cry too loudly. in the car, later, not letting an inch between their thighs. _reliable_. see?

'you _rat_ bastard,' says pav, dropping him off last, designated-driver dry. 'could you chill for, like, one fuckin' night?'

poe rolls his eyes, doesn't get to sleep until the sky's already light; wakes up around noon for the first time in months. thank god for saturdays. dad's at work, as usual, and mom must've taken pity on him 'cus she's out in the garage, humming and working on the car alone. poe brings her lunch and her medicine, hovers pointedly until she eats both. side effects are drowsiness and weight loss so they walk to the park and eat some ice cream on the way. mom gets tired so easy these days, poe sits the fuck down on the bench before she tries to bullshit her way through.

'you know i love you, right, poe?' mom says, like she always says when she gets the chance, 'cus she thinks she's gonna fucking die or whatever.

'yea, ma,' says poe. 'yea, i know.' it's hot out. he squints up at the sun till his eyes get all blurry.

he thinks of finn, a little. how he pressed back against his thigh in the car. how just two months ago if poe leaned-in, he'd just laugh and slug him in the arm - and now he gets all nervous, and leans-in, too. how he lights up whenever someone, anyone texts him, even if it's just coach. the way he first spoke to poe, sitting down next to him in music class, like they were old friends. _you ever gonna fix the strings on that thing?_

he talked about his own mom, once. last christmas, the drunkest poe's ever seen him get. (so: tipsy.) 'love is what you leave behind,' he said.

'i'm glad you're here, ma,' says poe, to his mother. the riera twins chasing each other back and forth beneath the monkey bars; the sun beaming down on them all. he forgot to make them both put sunscreen on before they left, like an idiot. as if mom needed more fucking freckles to worry about. 'i know i don't say it a lot...but i really am.'

'oh, that's ok, poe,' says mom, smiling so hard he can't even really look at her; 'you're all right.'

 

 


End file.
